WVU Tech holds off RedStorm men

Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The fact that 20th-ranked West Virginia University-Tech defeated the University of Rio Grande in Saturday afternoon's season finale probably didn't come as much of a surprise to most.
But as was the case when the two teams got together in Beckley, W.Va. in mid-January, the Golden Bears certainly had to earn their victory.
Tech outscored the RedStorm 7-0 over the game's final three-plus minutes and held on for a 76-67 River States Conference men's basketball win to spoi Senior Day at the Newt Oliver Arena.
The Golden Bears improved to 21-7 overall and 15-1 in conference play with their 10th straight win overall and their seventh consecutive triumph over Rio Grande in the all-time series between the two schools.
Rio Grande, which dropped an 84-79 decision to Tech in the earlier meeting, finished its season at 12-18 overall and 5-11 inside the RSC.

The RedStorm, who failed to play a single game with their projected starting lineup entering the 2019-2020 campaign, suffered their eight loss of the year by nine points or less.
Head coach Ken French's club trailed just 69-67 after senior Greg Wallace (Montego Bay, Jamaica) canned a jumper in the lane with 3:25 left in the contest, but Rio Grande never scored again.
The RedStorm went 0-for-3 from the floor with three turnovers over their final five possessions, while Tech got a bucket from Andrew Work on its ensuing possession after Wallace's basket before going 5-for-6 at the free throw line over the final 2:06 to nail down the win.
The Golden Bears led by no more than six points during the opening half and settled for a 33-32 advantage at the intermission.
A 7-0 run in the second half, capped by a layup by Work with 10:24 left to play, gave Tech its biggest lead of the game, 57-47, but Rio Grande refused to go away quietly and methodically sliced the deficit to two points late and set the stage for the gut-wrenching finish.
WVU-Tech shot 60 percent from the field in the second half (15-for-25) and 51 percent for the game (26-for-51). The Golden Bears survived an 18-for-28 showing at the free throw line (64.3%) and 31-29 deficit in rebounding by committing just five turnovers.
Darrin Martin had a career-high 20 points off the bench to lead the winning effort, while Tamon Scruggs and Juvante' Hayes tossed in 15 points each. Scruggs also had a team-high eight rebounds.
Wallace and fellow senior Hadith Tiggs (Mayfield Heights, OH) - both of whom were honored in pre-game ceremonies - netted 18 points each to lead Rio Grande. Tiggs also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, while Wallace - whose mother, Maggie, traveled from England to see him play in person for the first time since his arrival at Rio - had a career-high three blocked shots.
Freshman Shiloah Blevins (South Webster, OH) had 12 points and two blocked shots of his in a losing cause for the RedStorm, which shot 49 percent (25-of-51) for the game.